Orcs prepare for battle against high Elves, Dwarves retreat to the mountains and men march to the sea to reclaim crumbling fortresses. Fortunes are decided. Kingdoms are lost. Entire worlds are created.

This book will teach you to bring your fictional realm to life with simple step-by-step instructions on how to draw authentic fantasy maps.

Over the last two decades, The Big List of RPG Plots has been cited, quoted, thanked and excerpted in articles for computer-game design, a book on Hollywood screenwriting, and more than a few pen-and-paper RPGs. I wrote it in 1993 as an article submission for Pyramid magazine (they rejected it). I later tried to shop it to Dragon and Shadis and others... [click here for more]

Ever wondered what it takes to make it as a freelancer?
Want to improve your homebrew adventures? The KOBOLD Guide to Game Design distills years of professional experience into a collection of design wisdom that can improve your game and vastly increase your odds of selling a magazine article, adventure, or complete game design.
Includes tips from Keith Baker, Wolfgang Baur, Ed Greenwood,... [click here for more]

"When a traveller in north central Massachusetts takes the wrong fork at the junction of the Aylesbury Pike just beyond Dean’s Corners he comes upon a lonely and curious country."
- The Dunwich Horror
This issue of the Arkham Gazette was developed as a 'proof' of concept' test to see if the idea for a magazine focused on the Lovecraft Country setting for The... [click here for more]

Once Upon a Time, in the Zantabulous Land of Zo. . . Tailors face giants, enchanted queens dance with human peasants, talking creatures perform domestic duties, witches cast curses and fairies grant blessings. And all are seeking their Happily Ever After. Fairy tales and folktales have served as fertile ground for many stories, novels, cartoons, movies, and games. They speak to common - possibly... [click here for more]

Written by a veteran game store owner, the Game Retailer Guide is a how-to industry manual that contains everything you need to know in order to start and run a successful game-selling business.
Topics the Game Retailer Guide covers include:
* Administration & Planning
* Building and Equipping the Store
* Competitive Analysis
* Products and Services
* Marketing &... [click here for more]

Explore the conceptual origins of wargames and role-playing games in this unprecedented history of simulating the real and the impossible. From a vast survey of primary sources ranging from eighteenth-century strategists to modern hobbyists, Playing at the World distills the story of how gamers first decided fictional battles with boards and dice, and how they moved from simulating wars to simulating... [click here for more]

Building Story in Tabletop Roleplaying Games
Learn to be a good gamemaster by learning how to be a good writer. Inject great stories into your roleplaying games by taking advantage of decades of fiction writing instruction. See how 22 different writing concepts apply to specific roleplaying games like D&D, Fate Core, Dungeon World, and Hillfolk. ... [click here for more]

"[H]e went back to Arkham, the terrible witch-haunted old town of his forefathers in New England, and had experiences... which made him seal forever certain pages in the diary of a wild-minded ancestor." HP Lovecraft - "The Silver Key"
Welcome to the latest issue of The Arkham Gazette, the magazine all about Lovecraft Country for the Call... [click here for more]

S.PETERSEN’S FIELD GUIDE TO LOVECRAFTIAN HORRORS A Field Observer’s Handbook of Preternatural Entities and Beings from Beyond The Wall of Sleep "With its clear visuals and hard-won information, this guide has saved my bacon on more thanvone occasion!"
—Ernest P. Wilderbeast, Visiting Professor of Preternatural Studies Miskatonic University Weird shapes... [click here for more]

"This is a highly important fact in view of the shadow which fell so suddenly upon me... It may be that centuries of dark brooding had given to crumbling, whisper-haunted Arkham a peculiar vulnerability as regards such shadows"
- H.P. Lovecraft, "The Shadow Out of Time"
With our first 'regular' issue of the Arkham Gazette we could not help but make Arkham itself the... [click here for more]

You love Dungeons and Dragons. As an experienced dungeon master you've run dozens, if not hundreds of games. You put a lot of work into making your games great. What if there's another way to look at how you prepare your game? What if it turned out you could spend less time, less energy, and have a better game as a result?
It's time to unleash the Lazy Dungeon Master.
Written in the style of Sly... [click here for more]

AN APPENDIX FOR THE FOUR-VOLUME SET!
Designers & Dragons: The Platinum Appendix is a collection of additional essays and indices to enhance and expand the material found in the Designers & Dragons series by author-historian Shannon Appelcline.
In this appendix, you’ll find:
Essays on women in the roleplaying industry, the Auriana Gang, the Hero Auxiliary Corps,... [click here for more]

PART ONE OF A FOUR-VOLUME SET!
EVERYTHING YOU’VE WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF ROLEPLAYING GAMES...
Designers & Dragons: The ’70s is a comprehensive picture of the beginnings of the RPG industry. This second edition expands the original single book into a series of four, and we’ve added over 50,000 new words to this volume alone. Learn about the colorful... [click here for more]

PART TWO OF A FOUR-VOLUME SET!
EVERYTHING YOU’VE WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF ROLEPLAYING GAMES...
Designers & Dragons: The ’80s is a comprehensive picture of the growth of the RPG industry. This second edition expands the original single book into a series of four, and we’ve added over 10,000 new words to this volume alone. Take an in-depth look... [click here for more]

PART THREE OF A FOUR-VOLUME SET!
EVERYTHING YOU’VE WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF ROLEPLAYING GAMES...
Designers & Dragons: The ’90s is a comprehensive picture of the heyday of the RPG industry. This second edition expands the original single book into a series of four, and we’ve added over 10,000 new words to this volume alone. In this volume, we... [click here for more]

PART FOUR OF A FOUR-VOLUME SET!
EVERYTHING YOU’VE WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF ROLEPLAYING GAMES...
Designers & Dragons: The ’00s is a comprehensive picture of the new resurgence of the RPG industry. The final and most updated book in a four volume series, we’ve added tens of thousands of new words and insider info to this volume alone. Take an inside... [click here for more]

Got Questions About RPG Design? Wolfgang Baur, Monte Cook, Ed Greenwood, Michael Stackpole, and other industry veterans have the answers you asked for...and the advice you need!
Get ready to create great new adventures, monsters and magic for your RPG campaign! The Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design offers 240 pages of in-depth essays on what makes RPGs tick. Get... [click here for more]

The Essential Elements for Building a World
Roleplaying games and fantasy fiction are filled with rich and fascinating worlds: the Forgotten Realms, Glorantha, Narnia, R'lyeh, Middle-Earth, Barsoom, and so many more. It took startling leaps of imagination as well as careful thought and planning to create places like these: places that readers and players want to come back to again and again.
Now,... [click here for more]

“Innsmouth? Well, it’s a queer kind of a town down at the mouth of the Manuxet. Used to be almost a city—quite a port before the War of 1812—but all gone to pieces in the last hundred years or so... And why is everybody so down on Innsmouth? Well, young fellow, you mustn’t take too much stock in what people around here say... Some of the stories would make you laugh—about... [click here for more]

THE CREATION of the world’s preeminent Fantasy Role-Playing Game (FRPG), Dungeons & Dragons®, is one of the most fascinating tales to be told in all the shared histories of entertainment, play and game design. Two very different men, David Lance Arneson and Ernest Gary Gygax, undertook an unprecedented collaboration which gifted us — as their shared legacy — with one... [click here for more]

"Gnome Stew has hit another home run for the Game Master. Never Unprepared has earned a permanent place in my GM toolbox, right along side the likes of Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering, Hamlet’s Hit Points, Play Dirty, Eureka, and Masks. Highly recommended." -- RoleplayDNA review
2013 Origins Award nominee for Best Game-Related Publication - 2013 ENnie Award... [click here for more]

Push: New Thinking About Roleplaying, Volume 1 (July 2006) was the first and only published volume of what was originally intended to be an annual journal of analysis and experimental games.
It was published just before GenCon 2006, which was the first time I met the folks from The Forge in person, though I had interacted online with that design community since 2002. To... [click here for more]

TWENTY-FOUR ACTION MOVIES EXPLODERobin D. Laws, game designer by day, cinema super-enthusiast by night, sets his analytic laser sights on action and thrills in a collection of essays sure to supercharge your tabletop roleplaying experience.
As the countdown ticks and the bullets fly, Robin takes you inside the workings of 24 action movies, from the stone... [click here for more]

Open Game Table, The Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs aims to bridge the gap between the RPG blogging community and the broader table-top gaming fan base by showcasing the best talent in the RPG blogosphere. Within these pages are nearly fifty blog posts from dozens of top-quality RPG blogs chosen by the fans who read them. An expert panel of RPG bloggers, editors, and game designers judged the... [click here for more]

Since the beginning of such additions to the DriveThruRPG/RPGNow Weekly Newsletter as A Better Game and the comic strip Bring Dice and Chips, we've received hundreds of requests for an archive or to make "back issues" available. While that's still in the works, what we've decided to do here is collect each an every one of the click here for more]

Kobolds Work a Little Magic
The popular and wildly useful Kobold Guide series tackles the biggest subject in fantasy: Magic!
What makes a fantasy fantastic? Magic, of course! Whether it’s unearthly beasts, scheming sorcerers, legendary swords or locales that defy logic and physics, a compelling fantasy story needs magical elements. The tricky part is that in order for the story to... [click here for more]

Great moments don't just happen on their own.
GM intrusions offer an opportunity for the Numenera GM to really shine--and for the players to experience incredible turning points in their characters' stories.
But how do you use this feature of the game to its fullest? Taking the Narrative by the Tail offers tips and techniques for great GM intrusions, as well as a... [click here for more]

Dinner and Dice: a Gaming Cookbook is a collection of recipes and first person game anecdotes from game industry professionals. Originally produced as a stretch goal for the Carolina Game Tables Kickstarter, you will find appetizers, entrees, and desserts from the people who make the games you love!
Each author includes a look at how they think about games and food... [click here for more]

Run Your Best Campaign Yet
Whether you’re a new gamemaster or a seasoned vet looking for a new angle to shake up your game, these 19 essays by expert gamemasters help construct your campaign from the ground up—and keep your players engaged until the dramatic conclusion.
Kobold Guide to Plots & Campaigns shows how to begin a new campaign, use published adventures or loot... [click here for more]

Do you want to write better role playing game story plots? Don't have much time but would like to have engaging storylines for your players to explore?
Key highlights:
Harness your full personal capability using keyword association
Write fast - as quickly as in 10-15 minutes from scratch to gaming table
Be more varied than ever - avoid cliched anti-climatic story arcs
How... [click here for more]

See Your Stories Like Never BeforeHamlet's Hit Points presents a toolkit that helps make storytelling in any RPG easier and more fun by classifying story beats and letting you track their ups and downs from hope to fear and back.
Armed with these tools, you'll be equipped to lay compelling track for an emotional roller-coaster that will keep everyone at your game table involved,... [click here for more]

A Brief History of Gnolls: Anthropophagy and Emeralds from Wales to Wisconsin and Beyond traces the history of the title fantasy creatures in literature and gaming, from when they were first introduced nearly a century ago up through the present. Features of this unique and entertaining volume include two entertaining quasi-academic essays by writer Paul Haynie that examine the literary history... [click here for more]

The fourth issue of Game Geek, inside you will find all sorts of fun stuff, including…
Musing of the Avalon Stogie
Behind the Game, Warhammer
Map of the Month
Junkyard Wars
An Open Letter in Defense of Gamers by WJ MacGuffin
Coral Thrown, Chapter 3
Geek Profile
Multi-Verse, New Battle Tiles
Origins of Twilight by Sean Wilt
Shuffler Map and Tiles by Claudio
Mark’s... [click here for more]

Welcome to the Fantasy Maker Handbook. This book will guide you along the way to writing down all of the elements you’re going to need to consider to write a fantasy role playing game setting from top to bottom. Of course not every possible element you can imagine for a game is covered in this book, that would be impossible; but it is a comprehensive guide that covers all of the important factors.... [click here for more]

A must-have for the children of all us fantasy gamers. With these 29 pages of full color illustrations you can entertain and educate your baby on the monstrous dangers inherent in the worlds we adventure in. This is a must have for educating your child early about fantasy creatures while also providing a platform to begin teaching the essential ABCs.
This alphabet book will walk your child from... [click here for more]

John Wick's monthly game master advice column in Pyramid was the most controversial in the magazine's history.
It was seen by some as revolutionary and dismissed by others as outright dangerous. Collected here for the first time are all eleven episodes including "Hit 'em Where it Hurts," a new introduction and closing statements by the author.
Learn the worst, most despicable,... [click here for more]

15 years ago, John Wick's book of GM advice, Play Dirty, took the gaming industry by storm. Some called it monstrous. Others refused to read it all together. Some retailers even refused to carry the book.
Now, John Wick is back with a whole new tome of dastardly tricks to keep your players guessing and your table humming: Play Dirty 2: Even Dirtier.
Take a tour through twelve new chapters, each... [click here for more]

More Dispatches from the Crowking- In the Depths of the Megadungeon!
"All about them as they lay hung the darkness, hollow and immense, and they were oppressed by the loneliness and vastness of the dolven halls and endlessly branching stairs and passages. The wildest imaginings that dark rumour had ever suggested to the hobbits fell short of the actual dread and wonder of Moria."... [click here for more]

The Game Master is a book about roleplaying games. It is intended for game masters from the aspiring novice trying to figure out how to launch their first campaign to the veteran who wants to discover how to consistently produce games that work and avoid train-wreck campaigns. It aims to foster a deeper appreciation of the unique nature of RPGs as both a dynamic literary form and a type of... [click here for more]

In an age of augmented reality, love is found in the most dangerous places. Stranded on Mars, megacorp programmer Derek Tobbit drowns his sorrows in augmented reality sex, only to have his drug-fueled midlife crisis hijacked by a conspiracy that threatens the solar system. It will take all his hacker skill, the friendship of a rogue AI, and the redemptive power of an impossible love to save them.... [click here for more]

They Say Everyone Has a Game Inside Them
Almost everyone who’s ever played a game has had an idea for how to make it better. To tweak it, improve it, or even build something new from its miniatures, cards, cubes, and concepts.
We think making games is awesome. We believe it's one of the most challenging, fun, rewarding things you can do. If you’ve ever thought about making a game of... [click here for more]

This lavishly illustrated guide explores the fantastic dungeons of the fictional D&D world, from the perilous Tomb of Horrors to the Sunless Citadel and the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. Aimed at the novice dungeoneer, this book provides tips and tricks for surviving deadly dungeons of all sorts, enticing would-be dungeon explorers with stories of fabulous treasures guarded by fierce monsters and... [click here for more]

Foreword by Justin AchilliEdited by Jonathan Jacobs, Kameron Franklin, Berin Kinsmen, Tony Law, Ben McFarland
Inside you will find timeless interviews with Dave Arneson on the roots of roleplaying games, Robin D. Laws on RPG theory and game play, and Jonathan Roberts on his career as a master cartographer. Open Game Table, Volume 2 features in all 65 articles from across the blogosphere... [click here for more]

Gamemastering. No other task is as unpopular in a roleplaying group. Very often, it is the gamemaster who ends up doing all the work so everyone can enjoy the game. But the job of gamemaster is at least as exciting and unpredictable as taking on the role of a player character.
When comparing gamemasters, it becomes obvious that some are better at their task than others--which is why rumors that one... [click here for more]

This special bundle product contains the following titles.How to be a Great GMRegular price: $5.99 Bundle price: $4.99 Format: PDF
Being a great Game Master is a little like being yourself; no matter what you do to be different, you will always be who you really are in the end. Is that a little cryptic? Let me break it down for you.
Being a great Game Master... [click here for more]

In our beautifully reformatted and reimagined ninth issue of Tsunami Quarterly Review, you will find the following great features:
RPG Crucible: Outside the Box: Explore a creative approach to matching disparate backgrounds with your new character's current career path.
Coloring Between the Lines: The Radiating Gnome extracts the most graceful elements... [click here for more]

In 2012 I self-published Michtim: Fluffy Adventures on DriveThruRPG. While being a standalone game product that brings joy to players (and in some cases even to their families!), it was also the practical part of my master thesis in Media & Interaction Design. Recently (in October 2015), the game was nominated for a World Experience Award at WUC15 and made the second place.
So far, only a selected... [click here for more]